stretch
/stɹɛt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.35 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To extend one’s limbs or another part of the body, for example in order to improve the elasticity of one's muscles.
Intransitive verb; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "I stretched the rubber band until it almost broke."
- "The rubber band stretched almost to the breaking point."
- "The inner membrane […] because it would stretch and yield, remained unbroken."
- "First, stretch the skin over the frame of the drum."
- "I always stretch my muscles before exercising."
- "When the cat woke up, it yawned and stretched."
Etymology
From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
stretches (present, singular)
stretching (participle, present)
stretched (participle, past)
stretched (past)
straught (obsolete, participle)
straught (obsolete, past)
straight (obsolete, participle)
straight (obsolete, past)
strech (alternative, misspelling)
stremtch (alternative, deliberate)
stretches (plural)